projects Archives • Licketyspit

Licketyspit’s Just-So-John Bookplay

lickspit — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:28:59 +0000

Bookplay is a Porridge & Play session where we all listen to a Story and then instead of the Magic Ball we ALL JUMP into the world of a BOOK to have an adventure!

The Just-so-John Bookplay stories are by a writer called Rudyard Kipling who was born 160 years ago in India! Rudyard travelled all over the world, which was quite amazing because this was before there were aeroplanes so you could only travel by foot, by boat, by horse, by bicycle or by train!!

Rudyard’s stories for children were inspired by all the different places he saw – a bit like us with our Flying Balloons game! His Just-So stories are about animals in India and Africa! (His most famous children’s book is The Jungle Book – which you might have heard of! ) His Just So Stories are about how he imagined some of the animals in the world came to be the way they are – how the camel got his hump? , how the leopard got his spots?, how the whale got his throat? and other questions.

Virginia’s Dad John loved these Just So Stories when he was a child. When he grew up he read them to his children (including Virginia) and then he read them to his grandchildren! John lived until he was nearly 91! When he died some of his friends and family decided it would be fun to help Licketyspit to do some Just-so- John Bookplay Sessions to introduce the stories John loved to more children! We are calling these our Just-So-John Bookplays! We hope you enjoy them!

‘How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin’ by Rudyard Kipling – a Bookplay by our Castlemilk Hub families…

Our second Just-so-John Bookplay at Castlemilk Library was an absolute joy! Families got together exited to see which Just-So-Story we would jump into this time. So, we enjoyed a few of our Storyplay games to get us all going and then Ruby read us the story of…‘How the Rhinoceros got his Skin’.

ONCE upon a time, on an uninhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee from whose hat the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental splendour.

Dressing up the Licketyspit way is the perfect way for us to become all the characters, places and things in the story!

And one day he took flour and water and currants and plums and sugar and things and made himself one cake which was two feet across and three feet thick.

But just as he was going to eat it there came down to the beach one Rhinoceros with a horn on his nose, two piggy eyes, and few manners. In those days the Rhinoceros’s skin fitted him quite tight. There were no wrinkles in it anywhere.

We fabulously moved from being one character to becoming another as we recalled the story!

And the Rhinoceros upset the oil-stove with his nose, and the cake rolled on the sand, and he spiked that cake on the horn of his nose, and he ate it, and he went away, waving his tail.

‘Them that takes cakes

Which the Parsee-man bakes

Makes dreadful mistakes.’

Mr. Parsee carefully planned how to get his own back on the rhino for eating his fantastic cake!

During a Heat Wave while the rhino was cooling down in the water…

The Rhinoceros took off his skin and carried it over his shoulder as he came down to the beach to bathe. In those days it buttoned underneath with three buttons and looked like a waterproof

Mr. Parsee collected cake crumbs from his camp and sprinkled them all over the inside of the rhino’s skin and waited for the rhino to come out the water and put his skin back on…

And it tickled like cake crumbs in bed! Then he wanted to scratch, but that made it worse

The poor grumpy rhino tried everything to stop the itch! He even scratched and rubbed against a palm tree – that looked very much like one of our grown-ups and made us all laugh and laugh! But the itch wouldn’t go away which made the rhino grumpier and grumpier…

So he went home, very angry indeed and horribly scratchy; and from that day to this every rhinoceros has great folds in his skin and a very bad temper, all on account of the cake-crumbs inside

What a fantastic way to play with a good story…that’s why we call it BOOKPLAY!

Could you BOOKPLAY a story with your family and friends this weekend?

Listen to John telling How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin by Rudyard Kipling by clicking here!

How the Rhinoceros got his Skin

Check out the wonderful ART GALLERY inspired by our Just-So- John Bookplay at Castlemilk Library!

‘Rainbow! Heart, biscuit!’

MATEO

‘I done a dragon and I drew the man climbing up the tree – Mr Parsee! I drew the rhino in the water and the cake’

POPPY

‘That’s the rhino that’s the palm tree that’s the cake.’

JESSICA

‘The rhino, the cake, the palm tree’

JESE

‘The ocean, a pirate ship, the fishes’

DARRAGH

‘It’s the Rhino, hearts and the water’

ZARA

‘The cake, the rhino’

OLIVIA

‘The cake!’

ANNE MARIE, Your Content Goes Here

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Licketyspit’s Just-So-John Bookplay

lickspit — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 15:22:17 +0000

Bookplay is a Porridge & Play session where we all listen to a Story and then instead of the Magic Ball we ALL JUMP into the world of a BOOK to have an adventure!

‘How the Whale Got His Throat’ by Rudyard Kipling – a Bookplay by our Castlemilk Hub families…

In the sea, once upon a time O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes

We gathered at Castlemilk Library and we found out today was World Book Day – which was perfect for a Bookplay! We were oh so ready to jump into this tale about a whale, a person, and a wee tiny but wise fish.

Before jumping into the book, we got warmed up and ready by playing some of our Storyplay games to get our imaginations going and then Virginia read us the story…

All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so! Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ‘Stute Fish

We all dressed up as the characters in the story!

Some of us decided to be the tiny ‘Stute Fish’!

Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?’ ‘If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack- knife, one ship-wrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.’

(‘infinite’ means ‘never ending’ and ‘sagacity’ means ‘clever and canny!’).

Some of us became the Mariner person…with the suspenders (or ‘braces’ to hold up his trousers!)

And of course, some of us became the very hungry Whale!

A brilliant thing about Bookplay is that you can be one character at one moment and a different character the next – we all collaborated and worked together so we could play out the whole story

Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?

A pair of ship-wrecked Mariners!

Even though the Whale had eaten all the fishes – except one! – he was still hungry so he ate the Mariners!

Inside the Whale’s belly the Mariners “stumped and they jumped and they thumped and they bumped…they pranced and they danced and they …hopped and they dropped and they ..danced hornpipes where they shouldn’t!” amongst other things until the Whale got the hiccups!

‘Tell him to come out,’ said the ‘Stute Fish.

‘Nay, nay!’ said the Mariner. ‘Not so, but far otherwise. Take me to my natal-shore IN SCOTLAND!

The Mariner, who was indeed a person of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, had taken his jack-knife and cut up the raft into a little square grating all running criss- cross, and he had tied it firm with his suspenders, dragged that grating good and tight into the Whale’s throat, and there it stuck

By means of a grating, I have stopped your ating.

WHAT AN ADVENTURE! Do you think you could Bookplay other good stories?

All we had was each other and our bag of dressing up clothes! (Which as you know is just a collection of old clothes no-one wanted anymore!)

If you do a Bookplay at home send us a message or a photo!

Listen to John telling How The Whale Got His Throat by Rudyard Kipling by clicking here!

How the Whale got his Throat

Check out the wonderful ART GALLERY inspired by our Just-So- John Bookplay at Castlemilk Library!

‘ A rainbow sun and me. I’m being the whale. Going to find people to eat them. The whale and then Anusha being a whale. A snowstorm and the whale got covered in snow. It’s a card – a full story.’

Evie

‘The fish, whale, raft and Scotland flag’

Jacqueline

‘I done me and a boy, the Scotland flag and the whale. She chewed her bow. The bump on the whale cos he swallowed the raft’.

Poppy

‘A ballon. The sun. Was very cold. A fish. Mateo was the big whale.’

Mateo

‘Mariner and whale in the sea. The wee sardine’

Ingrid

‘That’s the whale, that’s the sea, the mariner.’

Jese

‘The whale. A boy. A cat. A dog. The stars. The clouds. A cloud for a bed. The sun.’

Gaby

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Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 7

lickspit — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 13:12:34 +0000

15th June 2019

The final session in Ruchill was the last Big Porridge and Play 2019 and we were really moved and delighted to have so many people join us to send the project off in style.

We had to add and extra table to fit all 44 people – plus Virginia, Rita, Jack and Ruby round the table when it came to the meal, and it was lovely to share our games, songs and story with our guests. That included loads of your great Funky Chicken animals, like the Dancing Tiger, the Shy Butteryfly and the Slithering Snake.

We also played a great game of Witches Fingers, with confident cackling witches of all ages sending us from quiet suspense into laughter and joyous running off. It was clear at the beginning that having guests and a videographer there made a difference, but any shyness was soon forgotten as we got swept up in the worlds of the games.

Our Grannies in Monsters’ Footsteps were all very keen to tell us about the castles and caves they lived in, even the youngest ones! And everyone was focused on the game together as the grimacing trees crept towards the Grannies and they admired their un-treelike expressions!

After the meal, where we enjoyed trying Emma’s Jollof rice and plantain, as well as tucking into Edie and Nikki’s cakes, we had another go at On Off, which never fails to entertain everyone.

Then we sat down to read our story, Emily and the Magic Mountain – which was a picture-perfect way to end out time doing Big Porridge & Play at Ruchill. It’s a fantastic story which we really wanted everyone to hear in its entirety to recognise all the wonderful, rich ideas – captured here but which have been fizzy and popping throughout Big Porridge & Play 2019, giving the sessions the magic that we have all enjoyed so much.

In the words of our Actor-Pedagogue Jack, “Loved it, Loved it, Loved it. Thanks, Ruchill for this moment.”

P.S. Maureen and others expressed an interest in meeting up in the park to keep playing these games and we’d love to support the Ruchill community to do this. Keep your eyes peeled for text from Rita letting you know when the group might be meeting up to play together.

What you said…

“The obsession & enthusiasm as we played and sang together. Today’s was on a higher realm.” (Dad)

“Learning songs & games; seeing my children being challenged & growing in confidence; meeting other families.” (Parent)

“Their imagination has come on so much and they feel comfortable with playing without any objects / toys now.” (Mum)

“Everything means a lot to E, G and me. Hope Big Porridge and Play is on at Ruchill center next year.” (Mum)

“I hope you can come back next year and many years to come!” (Grandmother)

“They love all the sessions passionately. They are very sad that it has come to and end today.” (Parent)

Big Porridge & Play Gorbals Week 7

lickspit — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 11:02:32 +0000

13th June 2019

Our last session at the St Francis Centre was a wonderful celebration of what Porridge & Play can be, with families bringing countless delicious things to share in the meal, guests dressing up with the same gusto as everyone else, and big, collective games together in the circle.

We started with Big as a Bear, during which we could hear several people joining in with the whole thing word for word. Then we played Funky Chicken, with lots of people revisiting their favourite invented animals one last time, and everyone joining in the actions – like the Happy Lion, the Sneaky Fox and the Slithery Snake.

There was an incredible level of focus on what the funny witches would say when we played Witches Fingers,and it was fantastic to have our wonderful Lickety Volunteer Saliha becoming a brilliant first witch!

We sang Grandma Grandma, which was particularly enjoyed by the visitors as it’s such an inclusive, feel good song for joining in the first time. Much the same could be said for Letter to my Love, kicked off by Arush and Jack, which could have gone on for hours before anyone got bored.

And we finished with our story, Anoo the Alien and Jack the Deer, with a dozen people reading a line or two each round the circle. The story is a real achievement that everyone should feel so proud of, and it was lovely to end the play session with this before we sat down to eat.

What a treat we had for our Celebration Meal! Spicy vegetable kebabs, sushi, dopla, triple cheese muffins, dahl bites with coconut coriander dip, baclava, kheer, sujee halva and much more! Thank you to everyone who brought something. Visit the Lickety Kitchen to find some family recipes coming soon, as well as our Porridge & Play soup recipes.

We were so pleased to welcome Saliha’s family, Minish, Anil and Sharda, as well as Rashmi and Swathi and their children, who attended last year and came back to join us in our celebration.

It’s been a real pleasure doing Porridge & Play in the Gorbals – from our trips to Glasgow Green and the Dream Machine, to our Flying Balloon and Magic Ball adventures. We’ve met dragons, aliens, seen airports in the jungle, mermaids and octopuses, and most importantly we’ve done it together – with everyone being seen, heard and included. All we need to play is each other and we’ve made some great friends here in the Gorbals.

Hope to see you soon and keep on playing!

What you said…

“I want to come next week also” (Child, 6)

“I enjoyed a lot during all the sessions” (Mum)

“We have been playing the games at home, we have been playing “Bake a Cake” round the table with his Dad, but it won’t be the same without you” (Mum)

“In my country we don’t say goodbye we say see you later. So that’s what I want to say to you” (Mum)

“Every Thursday from 4-6 we do porridge and play. We play games such as Witches Fingers, Monsters Footsteps and many more. I like playing with my mum and with all the other children. I want to say thank you to miss Ruby, mr Jack and miss Rita for doing Porridge & Play” (Child, 7)

“Really I’m thanking you all wholeheartedly.” (Mum)

Big Porridge & Play Whiteinch Week 7

lickspit — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 08:47:58 +0000

12th June 2019

The last Big Porridge & Play 2019 at the Whiteinch library was the biggest yet – with nearly 60 of us singing, playing and dressing up together, before sitting down for a meal. It was very characteristic of the project as a whole, with a lot going on but a wonderful, vibrant energy – just like a big family party!

It was great to introduce our guests to Jelly on his Head and Grandma Grandma. With loud enthusiastic singing across the circle, encouraging grandparents, neighbours and friends to join in.

Lots of people took the floor to lead us in different Funky Chicken animals – like Rhiannon’s Naughty Unicorn, Yu’s Silly Dinosaur and Ava’s Cheeky Snake. We had fun remembering the body-part names in Ickerickeroo,with even the youngest in the group joining in and concentrating intently from our Toe Pointers to our Brainboxers!

Letter to my Love was really fun, with those dropping the letter taking great delight in guessing who had picked it up. Everyone really went to town with their Dressing Up – the best yet – gathering into a huddle for a quick group photo before we played our final game, Monsters’ Footsteps. Here, we met Granny Carson and Granny Jennifer, and Granny Frankey and Granny Sofia, before everyone else turned into brilliant Monster Trees, dancing and creeping their way towards them.

We were so thrilled that so many people wanted to bring something to share at the meal – we were certainly not short of food! From Anzelika, Frankey and Zofia’s Chocolate Butterfly Cakes to Christine and Corey’s Top Hats, Lily and Lisa’s Vegan Raspberry Cake to Anne’s Cheese & Onion rolls and Sausage Rolls, Yue’s Shrimp Noodles to Hanna’s Prawn Crackers, Zhenlan’s Seaweed and Carrot Rolls and Yu’s Spring Rolls, Suzy’s Brownies to Donna’s Strawberry Gateau, not to mention Asim’s Sudanese Lentil Soup! It was a feast. Look out for recipes in the Lickety Kitchen – and if you made something, please send us a recipe so we can add it!

It’s been a great 7 weeks, from our Tall Ship adventure with the mermaid and the sharks, to our first Magic Ball with the amazing dragon, we have seen and done some amazing things in our imaginary play. The story of Kitty the Clown and the Naughty Seagull is a brilliant creation and a testimony to everyone’s commitment to Porridge & Play and belief in your own limitless imaginations and each other. We missed everyone this Wednesday and hope we’ll be able to do more Porridge & Play in Whiteinch and other parts of Glasgow where we might see you soon.

Stay in touch and let us know if you’ve been playing the Lickety-Playcard games. We’d also love to add any new drawings to the Lickety Gallery, and if you write to us, we’ll always write back.

What you said…

“Thank you so much, we will really miss this” (Mum)

“Having R’s grandparents join in and seeing her’s excitement to be teaching them the songs and games.” (Mum)

“She’s had the cards out every day, she’s obsessed with them! We’re off to do our shopping later so we can buy the ingredients to make the soup.” (Mum)

“I love Porridge & Play” (Child)

“Encouraging imaginative play, giving children confidence & validating their ideas” (Parent)

“Both me and A have enjoyed every minute of it and learned so many new games and songs” (Mum)

Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 6

lickspit — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 09:53:34 +0000

8th June 2019

We had a really fab sixth session at the Ruchill Community Centre. You could really see how everyone has got to know each other over the last six weeks, with the group chatting away at the start of the afternoon and during the meal, and other parents supporting those with the youngest children.

We all put on jam trousers and custard in Mucky Brew, which was hilarious, and went back to the Button Factory for Hello my Name is Joe.

Flying Balloons was lots of peoples’ favourite game. We saw a volcano, a pink and green whale and even a rocket going into space and the moon! We saw lots of little animals which turned out to be kites being flown along a beach, then one of them was lifted up into the air – with the man holding it attached, and we had to help pull him back down so he wouldn’t be carried off into space!

We also wrote an epic story together, sitting rapt for more than twenty minutes while Ruby helped us thread together everyone’s ideas. We started with a character, a place and an object, and ended with a rich and colourful tale of adventure, revenge and inclusion. The tale of Emily and the Magic Mountain is the longest and most detailed Big Porridge & Play story yet, click here to read about a Emily the baker, the Wizard of the sleeping cakes, the Dolly that came to life, and the Mountain where it all began…

What you said…

“Creating the story was my favourite because everyone gets to share their ideas” – Child

“I’m not sure what we’ll do when it finishes” – Parent

“We’re definitely coming early next week because we want to make sure yous come back next year” – Parent

“Doing this has made realise how much I like being with children, even though I’m an adult, doing these kinds of things I feel I can be more myself” – Volunteer

Big Porridge & Play Gorbals Week 6

lickspit — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 09:07:30 +0000

6th June 2019

Week 6 at the Gorbals was a day for Pirate captains keeping things ship-shape on the open sea, storytelling and a surprise from poor Old Rodger.

Everyone really at ease playing together today. We had some extremely committed Pirates, wearing fantastic costumes and really feeling like we were on a huge ship, drinking our grog and swimming away from sharks.

Everyone over 5 volunteered to read some of the story we wrote together last week, which was really special – a beautiful, focused moment. Anoo the Alien and Jack the Deer also appeared in some of the Reflective Drawing, as well as “a butterfly high in the sky all the way to the moon” (3 year old)

We also sent a Letter to our Love to everyone’s great amusement – this along with Balloons is an absolute favourite.

There were huge smiles all round in Old Rodger and it was great to see how much the parents were supporting the children to get involved in planting the tree and tumbling down the apples. This was mirrored in the songs, where those who have been coming to Porridge & Play for longer were really making people laugh with their full-bodied renditions of Jelly on his Head.

Everyone was really excited for the Celebration session and keen to bring lots of exciting homemade food. Everyone was also delighted that Saliha brought some Turkish Delight to share following Eid celebrations.

What you said…

“I drew I sent a letter to my love – it’s me choosing everyone. That’s my fave game today because we’re in a circle and we can see everyone.”

“Mummy, the sun, the moon, a slide, water and an alien”

“It’s my friend Anne, she’s walking her dog with her Turkish delight with her hat on! Fave game – “Old Rodger is Dead because I like lying down to be old rodger. It makes me feel happy”

Big Porridge & Play Whiteinch Week 6

lickspit — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:56:15 +0000

5th June 2019

With our sessions drawing to a close we want to make sure our last Big Porridge & Play afternoons together are fantastic! On Wednesday at Whiteinch Library we had exactly that! We had such an enjoyable afternoon of play together!

Ruby and Jack were joined by Iona as again everyone braved the horrible weather outside to make it to the library.

We had the best Big as a Bear in Whiteinch yet. As soon as we started our warm-up, everyone was joining in with some brilliant actions too! We were so happy to see how well you have all learned this, as well as all the other songs and games! This is a great one to teach your family and friends at home and school!
After last week’s brilliant story creation with Ruby we absolutely loved hearing your story again this week – Kitty the Clown & the Naughty Seagull. Taking it in turns to read brilliantly, there was a great deal of respect shown by the rest of the group as everyone listened so well! We were so impressed by this and we can’t wait for you to show your invited guests how hard you all worked on this!

The story of Kitty the Clown was our inspiration this week, as we took turns in showing off our best and most exciting circus skills! With Ruby leading us all along the tight rope, Ava and Frankey’s high jumping, Lily’s spectacular cartwheeling and Ryder’s spinning top, we treated to some brilliant skills! Can you think of some other circus skills to try?

With the session coming up this week our last, we are super-duper excited for our Celebration afternoon! We are can’t wait to meet your invited guests and show them all the songs and games we have all played together.

What you said…

“I love porridge & play.” (Child, 4)

“A picture of R, purple, red and green colours for her hair and witches fingers on the back.” (Child, 4)

“I drew Kitty the Clown from the story and lots of Naughty Seagulls.” (Mum)

“I drew myself doing a cartwheel in the circus – my favourite part of today – it’s me standing on my hands.” (Child, 5)

Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 4

lickspit — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 14:15:57 +0000

18th May 2019

We are missing next week’s session not taking place because of the Bank Holiday so we wanted to make sure we had an excellent session of Porridge & Play today – and we did! –Jack, Iona and our General Manager, Shona were here for our 4th Ruchill BIG Porridge & Play 2019!

We started the session with our infamous Big as a Bear – everyone was in the mood to play and full of Licketyspit spirit!

We were SO SAD to hear about Old Roger! We wept and we wailed! So we planted an apple tree over his head! The apples grew ripe and tumbled down so the lucky Old Woman could pop them in her basket. Cheek! She was delighted BUT just as she was about to nip off home with them….Old Roger jumped up and he gave her a SHOCK! Eeek! That made the Old Woman go Hippety Hop!

We loved playing In the Way of the Word! One group decides on a ‘doing’ word and the other group plans different things to ask them to act! – taking a shower and playing football gigglingly was hilarious! So was brushing our teeth and eating our dinner sadly! Both groups performed brilliantly and we guessed all the words! This is a great game to play at home – especially with grown-ups who don’t usually play! And you realise how many brilliant words we all know! ‘Sneakily’, ‘Scarily’, ‘Delightedly’, ‘Lovingly’, ‘suspiciously’ !!!!

It was a really chilly and rainy day so we were glad of our delicious bowl of soup and we had a good catch up! Another wonderful Session – Sophie says – ‘every session is a new adventure’ and we all agree!

Looking forward to seeing you all after the Bank Holiday to catch a bus to a new adventure on The Tall Ship!

What you said…

“I drew a very scared granny! and that’s grannies house! It has huge love heart windows. The granny game was my favourite, I also drew my mum, thats her head, and her eyebrows.
I felt good and happy today!” (Child, 3)

“I drew monsters footsteps, the forest with lots of different coloured trees, that’s a big
brown house and I really loved granny’s footsteps, that was my favourite game.” (Child, 13)

“I drew a granny! and that’s a massive candle! The house is full of love hearts and I
drew a camel! The camel was living in the trees! the granny game was my favourite! and
that’s Big Foot Stomp Giant!” (Child, 5)

Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 5

lickspit — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 16:48:41 +0000

1st June 2019

We had a really wonderful Picnic & Play on The Tall Ship with the Ruchill Porridge & Play group last week.

Ruby met some of the group to get the bus to Partick after a quick game of Big as a Bear and Funky Chicken at the bus stop. When we got there, we met the rest of the group, as well as Jack, Rita, Boatemaa and Emmanuel, who had been getting things ship shape and ready to go, and we had an incredibly imaginative, energetic and joyful session.

We had some very confident Funky Chicken contributions – like the Puppy Dog, the Tall Snake and the Slow Snail. Everyone was really listening to each other and showing a lot of mutual respect and appreciation. We also played Sent a Letter to my Love, with lots of smiling and skipping about. Then suddenly, the Letter turned into a Magic Ball…

Our Tall Ship Magic Ball Adventure – The Nasty Pirate and the Sea Creature

We climbed inside the Magic Ball and found some dressing up clothes to create our adventure costumes, then we said the magic words and the Magic Ball took us off – to an Arctic Island! You were unstoppable and brimming with ideas. Several people bravely jumped into the icy sea and invited us all to have a swim. Then we came out and dried off and found the entrance to a long, dark tunnel. Luckily, someone found some torches and shared them out so that we could crawl slowly through the tunnel.

Inside, we found a map and Boatemaa spotted a chest on it. Every went off to look for it, eventually finding the chest further down the tunnel. But it was locked, and no matter how many keys everyone found to try, none of them worked! Suddenly, Nikki had a brilliant idea. We could try our keys all at once! Edie suggested we say Abracadabra at the same time – and it worked! The chest burst open to reveal golden treasure, chocolate and jewels!

As we were marvelling in our discovery, a Pirate appeared. He was very displeased to see us taking his treasure. In fact, he was rather cross. He started telling us to Scrub the Deck and Climb the Rigging, to Drink our Grog and even to Walk the Plank! We had to do exactly as he said, but in return, he said he’d show us his ship. And what a ship it was! We climbed up the galley stairs to the deck and looked out at the Arctic Sea. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we were exploring the ship when all of a sudden, a Sea Creature appeared!

The Sea Creature spoke and strange Sea language and she was crying. You quickly discovered she was very hungry. Everyone found things to give her to eat which cheered her up a lot. Then she gave us each a gift. Everyone was presented with a Sea Bangle. When the bangles started to change colour, the Sea Creature told us in her strange voice, that it was a sign the rain was coming. The bangles started to flash faster, so we quickly went back into the hold.

Back downstairs, Ruby and Jack reappeared just in time to get back into the Magic Ball and go back to the Tall Ship. Everyone told them about the Pirate and the Sea Monster they had met – they couldn’t believe they’d missed them!

We got out of the Magic Ball and settled down for a delicious picnic of crunchy veg, fresh fruit, bread, cheese and humus.

We hope the sun shines this Saturday so we can have another picnic in Ruchill Park. If not we’ll just stay indoors at the Ruchill Community Centre.

Thank you to Levi and everyone at The Tall Ship for having us and sharing in our Porridge & Play adventure!

What you said…

projects Archives • Licketyspit

Licketyspit’s Just-So-John Bookplay

Bookplay is a Porridge & Play session where we all listen to a Story and then instead of the Magic Ball we ALL JUMP into the world of a BOOK to have an adventure!

‘How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin’ by Rudyard Kipling – a Bookplay by our Castlemilk Hub families…

ONCE upon a time, on an uninhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee from whose hat the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental splendour.

And one day he took flour and water and currants and plums and sugar and things and made himself one cake which was two feet across and three feet thick.

But just as he was going to eat it there came down to the beach one Rhinoceros with a horn on his nose, two piggy eyes, and few manners. In those days the Rhinoceros’s skin fitted him quite tight. There were no wrinkles in it anywhere.

And the Rhinoceros upset the oil-stove with his nose, and the cake rolled on the sand, and he spiked that cake on the horn of his nose, and he ate it, and he went away, waving his tail.

‘Them that takes cakes

Which the Parsee-man bakes

Makes dreadful mistakes.’

The Rhinoceros took off his skin and carried it over his shoulder as he came down to the beach to bathe. In those days it buttoned underneath with three buttons and looked like a waterproof

And it tickled like cake crumbs in bed! Then he wanted to scratch, but that made it worse

So he went home, very angry indeed and horribly scratchy; and from that day to this every rhinoceros has great folds in his skin and a very bad temper, all on account of the cake-crumbs inside

What a fantastic way to play with a good story…that’s why we call it BOOKPLAY!

Listen to John telling How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin by Rudyard Kipling by clicking here!

Check out the wonderful ART GALLERY inspired by our Just-So- John Bookplay at Castlemilk Library!

Licketyspit’s Just-So-John Bookplay

Bookplay is a Porridge & Play session where we all listen to a Story and then instead of the Magic Ball we ALL JUMP into the world of a BOOK to have an adventure!

‘How the Whale Got His Throat’ by Rudyard Kipling – a Bookplay by our Castlemilk Hub families…

In the sea, once upon a time O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes

All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so! Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ‘Stute Fish

Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?

Even though the Whale had eaten all the fishes – except one! – he was still hungry so he ate the Mariners!

‘Tell him to come out,’ said the ‘Stute Fish.

‘Nay, nay!’ said the Mariner. ‘Not so, but far otherwise. Take me to my natal-shore IN SCOTLAND!

The Mariner, who was indeed a person of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, had taken his jack-knife and cut up the raft into a little square grating all running criss- cross, and he had tied it firm with his suspenders, dragged that grating good and tight into the Whale’s throat, and there it stuck

By means of a grating, I have stopped your ating.

Listen to John telling How The Whale Got His Throat by Rudyard Kipling by clicking here!

Check out the wonderful ART GALLERY inspired by our Just-So- John Bookplay at Castlemilk Library!

Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 7

15th June 2019

“The obsession & enthusiasm as we played and sang together. Today’s was on a higher realm.” (Dad)

“Learning songs & games; seeing my children being challenged & growing in confidence; meeting other families.” (Parent)

“Their imagination has come on so much and they feel comfortable with playing without any objects / toys now.” (Mum)

“Everything means a lot to E, G and me. Hope Big Porridge and Play is on at Ruchill center next year.” (Mum)

“I hope you can come back next year and many years to come!” (Grandmother)

“They love all the sessions passionately. They are very sad that it has come to and end today.” (Parent)

Other blog posts…

Big Porridge & Play Gorbals Week 7

13th June 2019

“I want to come next week also” (Child, 6)

“I enjoyed a lot during all the sessions” (Mum)

“We have been playing the games at home, we have been playing “Bake a Cake” round the table with his Dad, but it won’t be the same without you” (Mum)

“In my country we don’t say goodbye we say see you later. So that’s what I want to say to you” (Mum)

“Every Thursday from 4-6 we do porridge and play. We play games such as Witches Fingers, Monsters Footsteps and many more. I like playing with my mum and with all the other children. I want to say thank you to miss Ruby, mr Jack and miss Rita for doing Porridge & Play” (Child, 7)

“Really I’m thanking you all wholeheartedly.” (Mum)

Other blog posts…

Big Porridge & Play Whiteinch Week 7

12th June 2019

What you said…

“Thank you so much, we will really miss this” (Mum)

“Having R’s grandparents join in and seeing her’s excitement to be teaching them the songs and games.” (Mum)

“She’s had the cards out every day, she’s obsessed with them! We’re off to do our shopping later so we can buy the ingredients to make the soup.” (Mum)

“I love Porridge & Play” (Child)

“Encouraging imaginative play, giving children confidence & validating their ideas” (Parent)

“Both me and A have enjoyed every minute of it and learned so many new games and songs” (Mum)

Other blog posts…

Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 6

8th June 2019

“Creating the story was my favourite because everyone gets to share their ideas” – Child

“I’m not sure what we’ll do when it finishes” – Parent

“We’re definitely coming early next week because we want to make sure yous come back next year” – Parent

“Doing this has made realise how much I like being with children, even though I’m an adult, doing these kinds of things I feel I can be more myself” – Volunteer

Other blog posts…

Big Porridge & Play Gorbals Week 6

6th June 2019

“I drew I sent a letter to my love – it’s me choosing everyone. That’s my fave game today because we’re in a circle and we can see everyone.”

“Mummy, the sun, the moon, a slide, water and an alien”

“It’s my friend Anne, she’s walking her dog with her Turkish delight with her hat on! Fave game – “Old Rodger is Dead because I like lying down to be old rodger. It makes me feel happy”

Other blog posts…

Big Porridge & Play Whiteinch Week 6

5th June 2019

What you said…

“I love porridge & play.” (Child, 4)

“A picture of R, purple, red and green colours for her hair and witches fingers on the back.” (Child, 4)

“I drew Kitty the Clown from the story and lots of Naughty Seagulls.” (Mum)

“I drew myself doing a cartwheel in the circus – my favourite part of today – it’s me standing on my hands.” (Child, 5)

Other blog posts…

Big Porridge & Play Ruchill Week 4

“I drew a very scared granny! and that’s grannies house! It has huge love heart windows. The granny game was my favourite, I also drew my mum, thats her head, and her eyebrows.
I felt good and happy today!” (Child, 3)

“I drew monsters footsteps, the forest with lots of different coloured trees, that’s a big
brown house and I really loved granny’s footsteps, that was my favourite game.” (Child, 13)

“I drew a granny! and that’s a massive candle! The house is full of love hearts and I
drew a camel! The camel was living in the trees! the granny game was my favourite! and
that’s Big Foot Stomp Giant!” (Child, 5)